Bantam Hen not leaving coop

[Zinmaker]

I have a Bantam hen that has been somewhat of a bully towards my full sized hens, and now I think that it has started to lay, it isn't leaving the coop, however my other little banty is still mingling fine. Not sure if one or two of my other hens have said, enough is enough and have started to peck at it, but I don't see any injury. I can get the hen out into the run with the other chickens but it just runs back into the coop.

 

[Zinmaker]

The little banty still isn't leaving the coop much, kind of acting half way broody or something, doesn't seem to mind when I'm taking the eggs out of the nesting boxes. Don't see any visible wounds, but think it is still getting picked on by her bigger hen coop mate.

 

[patricium]

In my most recent experiences, when someone didn't want to leave the coop, it was because they weren't feeling well. But in those cases, the hens weren't in the nest box, just standing inside the coop. When they aren't feeling well, they tend to stand wherever you put them (ie if you bring them outside, they don't run back inside)

One of my bantams gets a little bullied by the larger hens, but her response isn't staying inside - it's just "run away!" whenever the bullies approach. Maybe you can watch them for a little while and see if any bullying happens? It usually is pretty apparent if you put some treats out.

It sounds like more like yours is thinking about broodiness. One of ours started acting broody as soon as she started laying too.

 

[Zinmaker]

After spending some time and watching the hens, it looks like a matter of the little bantam bully has now become the bullied. Yes it becomes very apparent when putting out treats, she avoids a couple of my other larger hens, and saw them peck as the little girl scurried by, thanks for the tip. The two standard size hens doing the pecking have been on the bottom of the pecking order have wised up, tired of the pestering. I feel bad for the bantam, and am pretty sure in guessing that is where the saying "Payback is a B*tch!" comes from.